In manufacturing, engineering changes, particularly late engineering changes, introduce timing uncertainty, additional effort, and analysis difficulty. Additional expense may also be incurred for reengineering, re-tooling, and re-testing. Many manufacturers view late changes as undesirable for these reasons and impose restraints to implementing late changes to discourage or minimize them. An objective and comprehensive methodology is therefore desirable to weigh the advantages and disadvantages associated with late engineering design changes in order to determine whether they should be instituted.